Write a blog post inspired by the word: Merry.
(and just like that, like I didn’t take a year off from the writers workshop… here is my post.)
I love the word Merry! To be Merry is to be cheerful… light-hearted…carefree…joyful… joyous… festive …happy… gleeful!
Proverbs 17:22 says “A merry heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.”
That’s one of the reasons I love to decorate for Christmas (and all the seasons for that matter)…it creates a merry…joyful….and festive atmosphere….and that kind of atmosphere is good for us! Beauty inspires! Beauty lifts our spirit! We could all use some of that right now… It refreshes us.
This Tradition of crazy amounts of red and green decor… It can give us a positive outlook on life… It’s a way of celebrating the light in the darkest part of our year… Seasonal depression hits for me… like clockwork… the day after Halloween.
I can feel my shoulders slack and my mood weaken. November is usually busy enough to stave off the desperation that will hit later… thankfully… But the fear and paranoia are there: The sun is setting before 5 p.m. and one night spent bored and alone in the gathering dark might pull me under permanently… and honestly it is something I force myself to keep going to do all the things all the way through the 21st of December… when suddenly my brain magically starts to believe it…. and I feel good again…
I have depression all year… It bobs up like a buoy, sneakily but regularly…I become reclusive… because showing my face when I feel awful inside is deceitful… I frequently believe my depression isn’t real… or my anxiety is from lack of sleep… so I end up feeling worse about both.
If you find yourself scrolling these pictures of Snowman Bathrooms and Painted windows (yes yes… I did all that magic LOL) let me remind you… Our environment and the atmosphere around us can effect our emotions… and our emotions can affect our physical health. Dr. Don Colbert says ” How you feel in your heart can show up in your body, for your heart and body are more powerfully connected than you have ever realized.” So even the tiniest bit of candle glow or sparkle here and there can remind us that the days will start becoming longer again… and the sun will return…. life will come back to the frozen ground and trees… and the earth will be Merry again!
“The holly’s up, the house is bright,
the tree is ready, the candles alight. “~German Carol
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas,
just like the ones I used to know
May your days be merry and bright,
and may all your Christmases be white! ~Irving Berlin 1942
Annnnnnnd…. Now to take it all down again 🙂
Thank you for reminding me I need to wrap my dogs in Christmas lights and take a picture! I always think that’s adorable, but I never think of it until all the stuff is put away 🙁 I, too suffer from severe depression, and winter is the worst. The cold makes my chronic pain worse and I feel sun-deprived. Last year I bought a Happy Light and started using it each morning. It makes a big difference in how I feel. Hang in there – spring really is coming!
I will do some checking into the Happy Light!! Im all down for anything that contributes to feeling Merry and Bright. Thanks for reading!
I never really thought about how important an affect our physical environment can have on our brains, but you’re right, when my house is clean I’m so much more calm and “together”. When it’s a disaster I feel like I can’t stay on top of anything and I’m distracted and moody. Someone should clean more around here and light some candles while they’re at it.
My Favorite thing happening this week? Its getting my house back to normal!